Gran Alacant and Area Forum

There has been a ten percent increase despite the biting recession

The number of foreigners living in Spain continues to increase, despite the recession. Latest numbers from the Government show that there are now 4,715,757 foreigners living in the country with a residence certificate or card, an increase of 10.31% over the past year.

38.86% of the foreign population was born in the European Union, 30.71% in Latin America and 20.84% in Africa. The rest is made up of 6.28% from Asia, 2.84% from non-EU Europe, 0.43% North American and 0.04% from Oceania.
53.49% of the immigrants are male.

The country with the largest collective here is Morocco, with 758,174, followed in order by Romania (728,580), Ecuador (441,455), Colombia (288,255), Britain (221,073), China, Italy, Peru, Bulgaria and Portugal.

The regions of Cataluña, Madrid, Valencia and Andalucía are home to 65.71% of the immigrants and the provinces with the most are, in order, Madrid (865,828), Barcelona (704,657), Alicante, Valencia, Murcia, Málaga and the Baleares, with each province home to more than 200,000 foreign residents.

Regarding age 13.64% are under 16, 82.6% are aged between 16 and 64, and 3.75% are 65 are more. Those percentages change dramatically when individual countries are concerned. The British and the Germans are those who have the highest average age, at 50.3 and 43.8 respectively. The youngest immigrants on average come from Morocco (27.2), and China (29).

from typically spanish

Doesn't really surprise as there are people living in other Countries where what they see about Spain, or UK, is just a dream. Recession or not.
There are also those that believe the grass is greener.

---